The use of compressively resilient hydrophilic foam members as part of, or as the entire, absorbent body in a catamenial tampon is known in the art. Typical prior art patents in this field include Meynier, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 2,884,925, Duncan U.S. Pat. No. 3,749,094, Dulle U.S. Pat. No. 3,766,921, Dulle U.S. Pat. No. 3,794,029 and Dulle U.S. Pat. No. 3,856,013. These patents relate generally to tampons in which the absorbent member is made from hydrophilic foam formed into conically shaped absorbent bodies which may have either a hollow, solid, or discontinuous interior structure. Another patent in this field is Schaefer U.S. Pat. No. 3,815,601 which relates to tampons containing an aggregate of separate discrete pieces of low modulus, resilient, absorbent foam encased in a relatively loose overwrap. Still another patent is Dulle U.S. Pat. No. 3,834,389 which utilizes a compressible resilient sponge foam core within a textile mass. While each of these tampon structures is useful in performing its intended function, it has been found that the herein defined combination of a hydrophilic foam core and a fluid permeable sleeve overwrap results in significant improvements with respect to simplified construction, rapidity of intravaginal tampon expansion, conformability during use, absorptive capacity, and particularly, ease of withdrawal after use.